There is a fascinating image in the Old Testament, it is of the tree planted near running water. It is the tree that flourishes because it has that source of water that other trees don’t have, especially in the desert. However, notice something powerful. It is the tree standing alone flourishing, but still standing alone.

When you look at the image, you often find it in areas of the Old Testament where one person is speaking to God, for example the Psalmist where this image is seen often.  So you have the tree planted near running water and you have those away from the water, this represents those who do not have this relationship with God who are on their own. They are at the mercy of the elements that surround them and they have no refuge or strength against those elements. However, the tree planted near running water has the strength and nourishment so even when the elements attack, it has the ability to survive and thrive.

So the person praying for God’s assistance asks for him to be like a tree planted near running water.

Jesus gives the Apostles a new image: that of a vine. A vine as we know is a sprawling plant, it is more a community and a growing one at that than a stand alone figure. Here, Jesus is telling the Apostles to be that community rooted in him. He also notes that the Father prunes that  vine, or community and to bear fruit individually and as a community.

This calls the community to root itself in Christ and to bear fruit in Christ. This calls for a community that seeks the holiness of Christ as a community. Notice the change in the entire image. The tree planted near running water is the way the Jewish psalmist describes his relationship to God. The vine rooted in Christ is the way Jesus describes the relationship between God and community. It is God who creates the vine image, not the psalmist.

Also notice that that the vine is like a network and all the branches are connected, now the same can be said for the branches of a tree, but cannot be said for a forest. For the trees are not connected in a forest, yet, the vine is one sprawling network of branches. Jesus’ grace spreads through the vine and it grows and spreads throughout the land.

Let us connect this with other images that Jesus makes of the believers. The salt of the Earth, the Light of the World, notice in each case the believers are called to a position of bringing goodness to a world that has none without them. The vine, as a net is something that spreads that goodness but not just goodness in general, but that which is directed by the Father through Christ and as a community.

You are not a vine, your parish is a vine, your diocese is a vine, the Church is a vine and that vine must be rooted in Christ in order to bear fruit. If it is not rooted in Christ it may spread, but the message it spreads will be at best an ersatz of the actual message of Christ. Look at those who seek to do good outside of Christ and you see that they do good things, but mostly in the physical realm, they can do little for those suffering spiritually so common today. They can do nothing to give hope to one who has no hope in this world, such as prisoners, the seriously ill. They can do some good, but they cannot do the ultimate good that Christ calls his community to do. Some even in these Utopian movements preach a community that is composed of one type of person but eliminates others not of this type.

Notice, how Christ defines those who will bear fruit, the  ones who receive the word of God. Those who humble themselves before the wisdom of God in both scripture and tradition. Those who say those famous words of Socrates when he defined wisdom, I don’t know. In other words, those who recognize this wisdom as what it is beyond them and so they humble themselves to hear every word as Mary, Martha’s sister did, when she sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his words.

We are a vine when we root ourselves in Christ. We are the vine when we work with others in the community to know Christ and to spread the word of Christ as a community, for we are interconnected with each other.

Remember, a vine spreads, and we are called to grow and spread the number of the disciples knowing Christ, by being those who are nourished by our prayer, nourished by our worship and listen to his words for us and most importantly act on them. We have to be careful to work as a community and be that vine. That is why we pray for each other, we come together as a community at least weekly, we share our faith for the community aspect is what grows the vine when it is rooted in Christ.

This is Christ’s message to us that we are  a vine. We are a community of believers and together we bring the message at his direction led by him. Be that vine as a community everyday.

God bless you.

Fr. Robert J Carr

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